Saving/restoring guarded storage controls in a virtualized environment

ABSTRACT

A guarded storage facility sets up a boundary indicating a range of addresses to be guarded or protected. When a program attempts to access an address in a guarded section defined by the boundary, a guarded storage event occurs. Use of this facility facilitates performance of certain tasks within a computing environment, including storage reclamation.

BACKGROUND

One or more aspects relate, in general, to processing within a computingenvironment, and in particular, to improving such processing.

Many modern programming languages, such as Java and Python, as examples,allow an application program to instantiate a data object by simplyreferencing it, with no obligation to track or subsequently free thememory when it is no longer needed.

Active data objects (that is, those in use by the application) andinactive data objects (that is, those no longer needed by theapplication) may be intermixed in the language's memory heap, resultingin a fragmented memory space. A process, commonly known as storagereclamation or garbage collection, not only removes inactive objectsfrom the memory heap, but also relocates active memory objects bycoalescing them into more compact blocks of memory. This allows for thefree memory to be combined into larger contiguous blocks that areavailable for subsequent use by applications.

The challenge in relocating active data objects is just that—they areactive, and may be simultaneously referenced by other central processingunits besides the one performing the storage reclamation. Thus, toperform storage reclamation, the execution of all application processesthat may be referencing memory while storage reclamation is in progressis suspended. Depending on the number of memory relocations needed, thiscould cause unacceptable delays in applications.

This challenge in relocating active data objects also exists in virtualenvironments, in which a hypervisor may provide multiple guest virtualmachines.

SUMMARY

Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages areprovided through the provision of a computer program product forfacilitating processing within a computing environment. The computerprogram product comprises a storage medium readable by a processingcircuit and storing instructions for performing a method. The methodincludes, for instance, providing a data structure designed to include aplurality of ancillary state description structures to be used in avirtualized environment; and including in the data structure one or moreancillary state description structures, the one or more ancillary statedescription structures including one or more control registers used in aguarded storage facility to guard one or more sections of memory.

The use of the data structure enables multiple ancillary statedescription structures to be contained within one structure, therebysaving pointers and memory, and facilitating processing within avirtualized computing environment.

In one embodiment, the data structure is used to manage the guarding ofthe one or more sections of memory in the virtualized environment.

In one embodiment, a guarded storage control block is included in thedata structure, the guarded storage control block including the one ormore control registers. The one or more control registers include, forinstance, one or more registers selected from a group of registersconsisting of a guarded storage designation register, a guarded storagesection mask register, and a guarded storage event parameter listaddress register.

In one example, the data structure is an extension of a statedescription used to control processing within the virtualizedenvironment. Further, in one embodiment, the data structure is located,and the locating uses information in the state description. Theinformation includes, for instance, a pointer to an origin of the datastructure, and/or the information includes a characteristic used toindicate a size and alignment of the data structure.

Moreover, in one embodiment, the data structure includes a featuresindication that indicates validity of contents of the data structure,and in a further embodiment, the features indication is used todetermine whether a requested feature is valid.

Computer-implemented methods and systems relating to one or more aspectsare also described and claimed herein. Further, services relating to oneor more aspects are also described and may be claimed herein.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesdescribed herein. Other embodiments and aspects are described in detailherein and are considered a part of the claimed aspects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more aspects are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimedas examples in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. Theforegoing and objects, features, and advantages of one or more aspectsare apparent from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A depicts one example of a computing environment to incorporateand use one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 1B depicts further details of the processor of FIG. 1A, inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 2A depicts another example of a computing environment toincorporate and use one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2B depicts further details of the memory of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 depicts one example of a guarded storage designation register, inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts one example of a relationship between guarded storagecharacteristics, a guarded storage origin and a guarded storage sectionsize, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts one example of a guarded storage section mask register,in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 6A depicts one example of a guarded storage event parameter listaddress register, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 6B depicts one example of a guarded storage event parameter list,in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 7 depicts one example of a guarded storage control block, inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 8 depicts one embodiment of a Load Guarded instruction, inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 9 depicts one example of a Load Logical And Shift Guardedinstruction, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 10 depicts one example of a Load Guarded Storage Controlsinstruction, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 11 depicts one example of a Store Guarded Storage Controlsinstruction, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 12 depicts one example of detection of a guarded storage event, inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 13A depicts one example of a format of a machine check extendedsave area, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 13B depicts one example of a machine check extended save areadesignation register, in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention;

FIG. 13C depicts one example of a signal processor parameter register,in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 14 depicts one example of a virtual computing environment toincorporate and use one or more aspects of a guarded storage facility,in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 15 depicts one example of a state description annex, in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 16 depicts one example a state description annex designation, inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention; and

FIGS. 17A-17B depict one embodiment of aspects relating to facilitatingprocessing in a computing environment, in accordance with an aspect ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention, acapability is provided that facilitates performance of certain taskswithin a computing environment including, but not limited to, storagereclamation. This capability, referred to as a guarded storage facility,sets up a boundary indicating a range of addresses that are guarded orprotected, such as a range of addresses for which storage reclamation isto be performed. When a program attempts to access an address in aguarded section defined by the boundary, a guarded storage event occurs,thereby protecting the addresses within the boundary. Use of thisfacility facilitates processing within a computing environment andimproves performance. For instance, use of this facility enablesapplications executing on one or more central processing units (CPUs) ina computing environment to continue executing while storage reclamationis in progress on another CPU in the computing environment. Applicationsmay continue to access addresses not being protected by the boundary.

One or more aspects of the present invention provide one or more of thefollowing, as examples: enable applications to set and inspect controlsthat affect the operation of the guarded storage facility; provide acapability to identify processor attributes when a guarded storage eventis detected; load data (e.g., a compressed pointer) that is shifted by avariable amount and used in guarded storage detection; provide guardedstorage event handling during transactional execution, includinghandling an abort of a transaction aborted due to a guarded storageevent and the effects thereof; and provide a data structure to includeancillary state descriptions used in the storing/restoring of guardedstorage controls in a virtualized environment.

An embodiment of a computing environment to incorporate and use one ormore aspects of the present invention is described with reference toFIG. 1A. In one example, the computing environment is based on thez/Architecture, offered by International Business Machines Corporation,Armonk, N.Y. One embodiment of the z/Architecture is described in“z/Architecture Principles of Operation,” IBM Publication No.SA22-7832-10, March 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. Z/ARCHITECTURE is a registered trademark ofInternational Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., USA.

In another example, the computing environment is based on the PowerArchitecture, offered by International Business Machines Corporation,Armonk, N.Y. One embodiment of the Power Architecture is described in“Power ISA™ Version 2.07B,” International Business Machines Corporation,Apr. 9, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. POWER ARCHITECTURE is a registered trademark of InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., USA.

The computing environment may also be based on other architectures,including, but not limited to, the Intel x86 architectures. Otherexamples also exist.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a computing environment 100 includes, for instance,a computer system 102 shown, e.g., in the form of a general-purposecomputing device. Computer system 102 may include, but is not limitedto, one or more processors or processing units 104 (e.g., centralprocessing units (CPUs)), a memory 106 (referred to as main memory orstorage, as examples), and one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces108, coupled to one another via one or more buses and/or otherconnections 110.

Bus 110 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include the Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA), the Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), the EnhancedISA (EISA), the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI).

Memory 106 may include, for instance, a cache 120, such as a sharedcache, which may be coupled to local caches 122 of processors 104.Further, memory 106 may include one or more programs or applications130, an operating system 132, and one or more computer readable programinstructions 134. Computer readable program instructions 134 may beconfigured to carry out functions of embodiments of aspects of theinvention.

Computer system 102 may also communicate via, e.g., I/O interfaces 108with one or more external devices 140, one or more network interfaces142, and/or one or more data storage devices 144. Example externaldevices include a user terminal, a tape drive, a pointing device, adisplay, etc. Network interface 142 enables computer system 102 tocommunicate with one or more networks, such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet), providing communication with other computing devices orsystems.

Data storage device 144 may store one or more programs 146, one or morecomputer readable program instructions 148, and/or data, etc. Thecomputer readable program instructions may be configured to carry outfunctions of embodiments of aspects of the invention.

Computer system 102 may include and/or be coupled toremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. For example, it may include and/or be coupled to a non-removable,non-volatile magnetic media (typically called a “hard drive”), amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and/or an opticaldisk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatileoptical disk, such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media. Itshould be understood that other hardware and/or software componentscould be used in conjunction with computer system 102. Examples,include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundantprocessing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives,and data archival storage systems, etc.

Computer system 102 may be operational with numerous other generalpurpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with computer system102 include, but are not limited to, personal computer (PC) systems,server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, handheld or laptopdevices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set topboxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputersystems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computingenvironments that include any of the above systems or devices, and thelike.

Further details regarding one example of processor 104 are describedwith reference to FIG. 1B. Processor 104 includes a plurality offunctional components used to execute instructions. These functionalcomponents include, for instance, an instruction fetch component 150 tofetch instructions to be executed; an instruction decode unit 152 todecode the fetched instructions and to obtain operands of the decodedinstructions; instruction execution components 154 to execute thedecoded instructions; a memory access component 156 to access memory forinstruction execution, if necessary; and a write back component 160 toprovide the results of the executed instructions. One or more of thesecomponents may, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention,be used to execute one or more instructions 166 of the guarded storagefacility, described further below.

Processor 104 also includes, in one embodiment, one or more registers170 to be used by one or more of the functional components.

Another embodiment of a computing environment to incorporate and use oneor more aspects is described with reference to FIG. 2A. In this example,a computing environment 200 includes, for instance, a native centralprocessing unit (CPU) 202, a memory 204, and one or more input/outputdevices and/or interfaces 206 coupled to one another via, for example,one or more buses 208 and/or other connections. As examples, computingenvironment 200 may include a PowerPC processor or a pSeries serveroffered by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.;and/or other machines based on architectures offered by InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation, Intel, or other companies.

Native central processing unit 202 includes one or more native registers210, such as one or more general purpose registers and/or one or morespecial purpose registers used during processing within the environment.These registers include information that represents the state of theenvironment at any particular point in time.

Moreover, native central processing unit 202 executes instructions andcode that are stored in memory 204. In one particular example, thecentral processing unit executes emulator code 212 stored in memory 204.This code enables the computing environment configured in onearchitecture to emulate another architecture. For instance, emulatorcode 212 allows machines based on architectures other than thez/Architecture, such as PowerPC processors, pSeries servers, or otherservers or processors, to emulate the z/Architecture and to executesoftware and instructions developed based on the z/Architecture.

Further details relating to emulator code 212 are described withreference to FIG. 2B. Guest instructions 250 stored in memory 204comprise software instructions (e.g., correlating to machineinstructions) that were developed to be executed in an architectureother than that of native CPU 202. For example, guest instructions 250may have been designed to execute on a z/Architecture processor, butinstead, are being emulated on native CPU 202, which may be, forexample, an Intel processor. In one example, emulator code 212 includesan instruction fetching routine 252 to obtain one or more guestinstructions 250 from memory 204, and to optionally provide localbuffering for the instructions obtained. It also includes an instructiontranslation routine 254 to determine the type of guest instruction thathas been obtained and to translate the guest instruction into one ormore corresponding native instructions 256. This translation includes,for instance, identifying the function to be performed by the guestinstruction and choosing the native instruction(s) to perform thatfunction.

Further, emulator code 212 includes an emulation control routine 260 tocause the native instructions to be executed. Emulation control routine260 may cause native CPU 202 to execute a routine of native instructionsthat emulate one or more previously obtained guest instructions and, atthe conclusion of such execution, return control to the instructionfetch routine to emulate the obtaining of the next guest instruction ora group of guest instructions. Execution of native instructions 256 mayinclude loading data into a register from memory 204; storing data backto memory from a register; or performing some type of arithmetic orlogic operation, as determined by the translation routine.

Each routine is, for instance, implemented in software, which is storedin memory and executed by native central processing unit 202. In otherexamples, one or more of the routines or operations are implemented infirmware, hardware, software or some combination thereof. The registersof the emulated processor may be emulated using registers 210 of thenative CPU or by using locations in memory 204. In embodiments, guestinstructions 250, native instructions 256 and emulator code 212 mayreside in the same memory or may be disbursed among different memorydevices.

As used herein, firmware includes, e.g., the microcode or Millicode ofthe processor. It includes, for instance, the hardware-levelinstructions and/or data structures used in implementation of higherlevel machine code. In one embodiment, it includes, for instance,proprietary code that is typically delivered as microcode that includestrusted software or microcode specific to the underlying hardware andcontrols operating system access to the system hardware.

A guest instruction 250 that is obtained, translated and executed is,for instance, an instruction of the guarded storage facility, a numberof which are described herein. The instruction, which is of onearchitecture (e.g., the z/Architecture), is fetched from memory,translated and represented as a sequence of native instructions 256 ofanother architecture (e.g., PowerPC, pSeries, Intel, etc.). These nativeinstructions are then executed.

Details relating to one embodiment of a guarded storage facility,including instructions associated therewith, are described below. Theguarded storage facility provides a mechanism by which a program candesignate an area of logical storage comprising a number of guardedstorage sections (e.g., 0 to 64), and may be used, e.g., by variousprogramming languages that implement storage reclamation techniques. Thefacility includes, for instance, a number of instructions, such as, forexample: a Load Guarded (LGG) instruction; a Load Logical and ShiftGuarded (LLGFSG) instruction; a Load Guarded Storage Controls (LGSC)instruction; and a Store Guarded Storage Controls (STGSC) instruction,each of which is further described below.

When a selected operand, such as a second operand, of the Load Guardedor the Load Logical and Shift Guarded instruction does not designate aguarded section of the guarded storage area, the instruction performsits defined load operation. However, when the second operand of theinstruction designates a guarded section of the guarded storage area,control branches to a guarded storage event handler with indications ofthe cause of the event. While the Load Guarded and Load Logical andShift Guarded instructions are capable of generating a guarded storageevent, other instructions that access a range of guarded storage areunaffected by the facility and do not generate such an event. Detailsrelating to the instructions of the guarded storage facility aredescribed further below, subsequent to a description of variousregisters used by the facility.

In one embodiment, the guarded storage facility is controlled by a bitin a control register, e.g., control register 2, and by the followingthree registers: a guarded storage designation register (GSD); a guardedstorage section mask (GSSM) register; and a guarded storage eventparameter list address (GSEPLA) register. The contents of these threeregisters may be loaded and inspected by the Load Guarded StorageControls and Store Guarded Storage Controls instructions, respectively.Further details of each of these registers, as well as control register2, are described below. In the description, particular values aredescribed for specific bits or bytes. These values and/or the specificbits and/or bytes are just examples. Other values, bits and/or bytes maybe used.

In one example, when the guarded storage facility is installed, aselected bit, e.g., bit 59, of control register 2 is the guarded storageenablement (GSE) control. When bit 59 is zero, attempted execution ofthe Load Guarded Storage Controls (LGSC) and Store Guarded StorageControls (STGSC) instructions results in the recognition of an exceptioncondition, for example, a special operation exception. However, when theguarded storage enablement control is one, the guarded storage facilityis said to be enabled, and attempted execution of the LGSC and STGSCinstructions is permitted, subject to other restrictions describedbelow.

In one embodiment, execution of the Load Guarded and Load Logical andShift Guarded instructions is not subject to the guarded storageenablement control. However, a guarded storage event may only berecognized, in one example, when the guarded storage enablement controlis one. That is, in one example, when a selected facility indication(e.g., facility indication 133) is, e.g., one (indicating that theguarded storage facility is installed in the configuration), the programcan use the Load Guarded and Load Logical and Shift Guardedinstructions, regardless of the guarded storage enablement control.However, guarded storage events are not recognized without first loadingguarded storage controls. Thus, the control program (e.g., operatingsystem) is to set the guarded storage enablement control to one in orderto successfully execute the Load Guarded Storage Controls instruction,which loads the guarded storage controls. A program is to examine theoperating system provided indication (GSE) of the guarded storagefacility enablement (rather than facility bit 133) to determine if thefull capabilities of the facility are available.

As indicated above, in addition to the guarded storage facilityenablement control, e.g., bit 59 of control register 2, the guardedstorage facility uses a plurality of registers, including a guardedstorage designation (GSD) register, which is, e.g., a 64-bit registerthat defines the attributes of the guarded storage area.

One embodiment of a guarded storage designation register (GSD) isdescribed with reference to FIG. 3. A guarded storage designationregister 300 includes the following fields, in one example:

-   -   Guarded Storage Origin (GSO) 302: This field designates an        address of a block of storage that may have guarded storage        protection applied. The location of the guarded storage area is        specified by the leftmost bits of the GSD register. In one        embodiment, the number of leftmost bits is determined by the        value of the guarded storage characteristic (GSC) in bits 58-63        of the register. Bit positions 0 through (63−GSC) of the guarded        storage designation register, padded on the right with binary        zeros in bit positions (64−GSC) through 63, form the 64-bit        logical address of the leftmost byte of the guarded storage        area. Other embodiments may use a different mechanism of        designating the origin of the guarded storage area.    -   In one embodiment, when the GSC is greater than 25, bit        positions (64−GSC) through 38 are reserved and are to contain        zeros; otherwise, the results of the guarded storage event        detection are unpredictable. In one embodiment, bit positions        39-52 and 56-57 of the GSD register are reserved and are to        contain zeros; otherwise, the program may not operate compatibly        in the future. Other embodiments may allow a different range of        GSC values, with corresponding changes to the size of the GSO.    -   Guarded Load Shift (GLS) 304: In one embodiment, bits 53-55 of        the guarded storage designation register contain a 3-bit        unsigned binary integer that is used in the formation of the        intermediate result of the Load Logical and Shift Guarded        instruction. Valid GLS values are 0-4, in one embodiment; values        5-7 are reserved and may result in an unpredictable shift        amount.    -   Other embodiments may provide a broader range of GLS values        allowing objects to be aligned on various boundaries, such as        halfwords, words, doublewords, quadwords, etc.    -   Guarded Storage Characteristic (GSC) 306: In one embodiment, bit        positions 58-63 of the guarded storage designation register        contain a 6-bit unsigned binary integer that is treated as a        power of two. Valid GSC values are, e.g., 25-56; values 0-24 and        57-63 are reserved and may result in an unpredictable guarded        storage event detection. The GSC designates the following, in        one example:        -   The alignment of the guarded storage origin. A GSC value of            25 indicates a 32 M-byte alignment, a value of 26 indicates            a 64 M-byte alignment, and so forth.        -   The guarded storage section size. A GSC value of 25            indicates 512 K-byte sections, a value of 26 indicates 1            M-byte sections, and so forth. Other embodiments may allow            different mechanisms of designating the GSC, with            corresponding changes to the designation of the guarded            storage origin and the guarded storage section size.

The relationship between the guarded storage characteristic, guardedstorage origin, and guarded storage section size is shown in FIG. 4. InFIG. 4, G is gigabytes (2³⁰); GSC is guarded storage characteristic; GSDis guarded storage designation; GSO is guarded storage origin; M ismegabytes (2²⁰); P is petabytes (2⁵⁰); and T is terabytes (2⁴⁰).

In addition to the guarded storage designation register, the guardedstorage facility includes a guarded storage section mask register, oneembodiment of which is described with reference to FIG. 5. In oneexample, a guarded storage section mask (GSSM) register 500 is a 64-bitregister, and each bit 502 corresponds to one of the 64 guarded storagesections within the guarded storage area. As an example, bit 0 of theregister corresponds to the leftmost section, and bit 63 corresponds tothe rightmost section. Each bit, called a section guard bit, controlsaccess to the respective section of the guarded storage area by the LoadGuarded (LGG) and Load Logical And Shift Guarded (LLGFSG) instructions,as described below.

When all 64 bits of the GSSM register are zero, guarded storage eventsare not recognized. In other embodiments, GSSM register 500 may have adifferent number of bits corresponding to a different number of guardedsections, and/or one bit may be used to represent more than one guardedsection. Many variations are possible.

The third register of the guarded storage facility is the guardedstorage event parameter list address (GSEPLA) register, an example ofwhich is depicted in FIG. 6A. As shown, a guarded storage eventparameter list address register 600 includes, e.g., a 64-bit address 602that is used to locate a guarded storage event parameter list (GSEPL),when a guarded storage event is recognized. In one embodiment, when theCPU is not in the access register mode, the GSEPLA is a logical address;when the CPU is in the access register mode, the GSEPLA is a primaryvirtual address.

When a guarded storage event is recognized, the GSEPL is accessed usingthe 64 bits of the GSEPLA, regardless of the current addressing mode ofthe CPU. The GSEPL is accessed using the current translation mode,except that when the CPU is in the access register mode, the GSEPL isaccessed using the primary address space.

In one example, when a guarded storage event is recognized, variousinformation is placed into the GSEPL, and control is passed to a GSEhandler. Using the GSEPL, the handler routine can effect the relocationof the object, adjusting its pointer accordingly.

One example of a guarded storage event parameter list is described withreference to FIG. 6B. The fields of the guarded storage event parameterlist, except the guarded storage event handler address, are stored intothe guarded storage event parameter list when a guarded storage event isdetected.

Referring to FIG. 6B, in one example, the contents of a guarded storageevent parameter list 610 include:

-   -   Reserved: Bytes 0 and 4-7 of the GSEPL are reserved, and, in one        example, are set to zero when a guarded storage event is        recognized.    -   Guarded Storage Event Addressing Mode (GSEAM) 612: Byte 1 of the        GSEPL contains an indication of the addressing mode of the CPU        when the guarded storage event was recognized, as follows:        -   Reserved: Bits 0-5 of the GSEAM are reserved and stored as            zeros.        -   Extended Addressing Mode (E) 614: Bit 6 of the GSEAM            contains the extended addressing mode bit, e.g., bit 31 of a            program status word. The program status word is a control            register that performs the functions of a status register            and a program counter. It contains information used for            proper program execution, including, but not limited to, a            condition code, an instruction address, and other            information, as described herein.        -   Basic Addressing Mode (B) 616: Bit 7 of the GSEAM contains            the basic addressing mode bit, e.g., bit 32 of the program            status word.        -   Bits 6 and 7 are set to, e.g., bits 31 and 32 of the PSW at            the time the guarded storage event was recognized (i.e., in            one embodiment, before bits 31 and 32 are replaced by the            transaction abort PSW, described below).    -   Guarded Storage Event Cause Indications (GSECI) 620: Byte 2 of        the GSEPL contains the guarded storage event cause indications.        The GSECI is encoded as follows, in one example:        -   Transactional Execution Mode Indication (TX) 622: When bit 0            of the GSECI is zero, the CPU was not in transactional            execution mode when the guarded storage event was            recognized. When bit 0 of the GSECI is one, the CPU was in            the transactional execution mode when the guarded storage            event was recognized.        -   A CPU may be in nontransactional execution mode or            transactional execution mode, and if in transactional            execution mode, it may be in constrained transactional            execution mode or in nonconstrained transactional execution            mode. The CPU enters transactional execution mode by a            transaction begin instruction and leaves the transactional            execution mode by either a Transaction End instruction or an            abort of the instruction. The transaction begin instruction            may be a Transaction Begin (TBEGIN) instruction of a            nonconstrained transactional execution mode or a Transaction            Begin Constrained (TBEGINC) instruction of a constrained            transactional execution mode. When the transaction begin            instruction is of the constrained transactional execution            mode, the CPU enters constrained transactional execution            mode, which is subject to a number of limitations (e.g., a            subset of the general instructions is available; a limited            number of instructions may be executed; a limited number of            storage operand locations may be accessed; and/or the            transaction is limited to a single nesting level). In a            nonconstrained transactional execution mode (referred simply            as transactional executional mode), the limitations of the            constrained transactional execution mode are not applied.        -   In one embodiment, during execution of the TBEGIN            instruction when a nesting depth is initially zero            (transactions may be nested), a transaction abort program            status word (PSW) is set to the contents of the current            program status word (PSW), and the instruction address of            the transaction abort PSW designates the next sequential            instruction (that is, the instruction following the            outermost TBEGIN). During execution of the TBEGINC            instruction, when the nesting depth is initially zero, the            transaction abort PSW is set to the contents of the current            PSW, except that the instruction address of the transaction            abort PSW designates the TBEGINC instruction (rather than            the next sequential instruction following the TBEGINC).        -   When a transaction is aborted, various status information            may be saved in a transaction diagnostic block (TDB).        -   Constrained Transactional Execution Mode Indication (CX)            624: When bit 1 of the GSECI is zero, the CPU was not in the            constrained transactional execution mode when the guarded            storage event was recognized. When bit 1 of the GSECI is            one, the CPU was in the constrained transactional execution            mode when the guarded storage event was recognized. Bit 1 of            the GSECI is meaningful when bit 0 is one.        -   Reserved: Bits 2-6 of the GSECI are reserved, and, in one            example, are set to zero when a guarded storage event is            recognized.        -   Instruction Cause (IN) 626: Bit 7 of the GSECI indicates the            instruction that caused the guarded storage event. When bit            7 is zero, the event was caused by the execution of the Load            Guarded instruction. When bit 7 is one, the event was caused            by the execution of the Load Logical And Shift Guarded            instruction. Other causes may similarly be indicated by            using more than one bit.    -   Guarded Storage Event Access Information (GSEAI) 630: Byte 3 of        the GSEPL contains information describing the following CPU        attributes, as examples:        -   Reserved: Bit 0 of the GSEAI is reserved, and, in one            example, is set to zero when a guarded storage event is            recognized.        -   DAT Mode (T) 632: Bit 1 of the GSEAI indicates the current            dynamic address translation (DAT) mode (that is, the T bit            is a copy of PSW bit 5).        -   Address Space Indication (AS) 634: Bits 2-3 of the GSEAI            indicate the current address space controls (that is, the AS            field is a copy of bits 16-17 of the PSW). The AS field is            meaningful when DAT is enabled (that is, when the T bit is            one); otherwise, the AS field is unpredictable.        -   Access Register Number (AR) 636: When the CPU is in the            access-register mode, bits 4-7 of the GSEAI indicate the            access register number used by the LGG or LLGFSG instruction            causing the event (that is, the AR field is a copy of the B₂            field of the LGG or LLGFSG instruction). When the CPU is not            in the access register mode, the AR field is unpredictable.    -   Guarded Storage Event Handler Address (GSEHA) 640: Bytes 8-15 of        the GSEPL contain the guarded storage event handler address. The        contents of the GSEHA field are considered to be a branch        address that is subject to the current addressing mode in the        program status word (PSW). When a guarded storage event is        recognized, the GSEHA field forms the branch address that is        used to complete the execution of the Load Guarded or Load        Logical And Shift Guarded instruction.    -   The instruction address in the PSW is replaced by the contents        of the GESHA.    -   The guarded storage event handler address is specified by the        program during execution of the Load Guarded Storage Controls        instruction.    -   A guarded storage event is considered to be a program event        recording (PER) successful branching event. If PER is enabled        in, e.g., the PSW, and the PER branch address control is one in,        e.g., control register 9, the GSEHA is the value compared with,        e.g., control registers 10 and 11.    -   Guarded Storage Event Instruction Address (GSEIA) 650: Bytes        16-23 of the GSEPL contain the guarded storage event instruction        address. When a guarded storage event is recognized, the address        of the instruction causing the event is stored into the GSEIA        field. The address placed in the GSEIA is either that of the        Load Guarded or Load Logical And Shift Guarded instruction, or        that of the execute-type instruction whose target is a Load        Guarded or Load Logical And Shift Guarded instruction, as        examples.    -   Storing of the GSEIA field is subject to the current addressing        mode when the event is detected. In the 24-bit addressing mode,        bits 0-39 of the GSEIA are set to zeros. In the 31-bit        addressing mode, bits 0-32 of the GSEIA are set to zeros.    -   Guarded Storage Event Operand Address (GSEOA) 660: Bytes 24-31        of the GSEPL contain the guarded storage event operand address.        When a guarded storage event is recognized, the second operand        address of a Load Guarded or Load Logical And Shift Guarded        instruction causing the event is stored into the GSEOA field.    -   Storing of the GSEOA field is subject to the current addressing        mode when the event is detected. In the 24-bit addressing mode,        bits 0-39 of the GSEOA are set to zeros. In the 31-bit        addressing mode, bits 0-32 of the GSEOA are set to zeros.    -   If transactional execution is aborted due to the recognition of        a guarded storage event, the GSEOA field contains the operand        address formed during transactional execution. This is true even        if the operand address was formed using one or more general        registers that were altered during transactional execution, and        regardless of whether the register(s) were restored when        transactional execution was aborted.    -   Guarded Storage Event Intermediate Result (GSEIR) 670: Bytes        32-39 of the GSEPL contain the guarded storage event        intermediate result. When a guarded storage event is recognized,        the intermediate result formed by a Load Guarded or Load Logical        And Shift Guarded instruction is stored into the GSEIR field.    -   If transactional execution is aborted due to the recognition of        a guarded storage event, the GSEIR field contains an        intermediate result formed from the second operand location        after the CPU has left the transactional execution mode (e.g.,        after the transaction was aborted).    -   Guarded Storage Event Return Address (GSERA) 680: Bytes 40-47 of        the GSEPL contain the guarded storage event return address.    -   When a guarded storage event is recognized while the CPU is in        the transaction execution mode, the instruction address of the        transaction abort PSW is placed into the GSERA. In the        constrained transactional execution mode, the instruction        address (i.e., the GSERA) designates the TBEGINC instruction. In        the nonconstrained transactional execution mode, the instruction        address (i.e., the GSERA) designates the instruction following        the TBEGIN instruction.    -   When a guarded storage event is recognized while the CPU is not        in the transactional execution mode, the contents of the GSERA        are identical to the GSEIA.    -   During execution of the Load Guarded or Load Logical And Shift        Guarded instruction, the GSEPL is accessed if a guarded storage        event is recognized. Multiple accesses may be made to any field        of the GSEPL when a guarded storage event is recognized.    -   Accesses to the GSEPL during guarded storage event processing        are considered to be side effect accesses. Store type access        exceptions are recognized for any byte of the GSEPL including        the GSEHA field and reserved fields. If an access exception        other than addressing is recognized while accessing the GSEPL, a        side effect access indication, bit 54 of a translation exception        identification at, e.g., real location 168-175, is set to one,        and the Load Guarded or Load Logical And Shift Guarded        instruction causing the guarded storage event is nullified.    -   When DAT is on, the GSEPL is accessed using the current address        space control (ASC) mode, except when the CPU is in the access        register mode; in the access register mode, the GSEPL is        accessed in the primary address space.

The three guarded storage registers may be set and inspected by means ofthe Load Guarded Storage Controls and Store Guarded Storage Controlsinstructions, respectively. The storage operand for each of theseinstructions is, e.g., a 32-byte guarded storage control block (GSCB),and the contents of the guarded storage registers occupy the last threeeight-byte fields of the block, as shown in FIG. 7.

As depicted, in one example, a guarded storage control block (GSCB) 700includes contents 702 of the guarded storage designation register,contents 704 of the guarded storage section mask register, and contents706 of the GSE parameter list address register.

When the GSCB is aligned on a doubleword boundary, CPU access to each ofthe three defined fields is block concurrent.

For the Load Guarded Storage Controls instruction, reserved bitpositions of the GSCB are to contain zeros, in one example; otherwise,the program may not operate compatibly in the future.

For the Store Guarded Storage Controls instruction, reserved bitpositions that are loaded with nonzero values may or may not be storedas zeros, and reserved values of the GLS and GSC fields of the GSDregister may or may not be corrected to model dependent values.

In an alternate embodiment, one or more of the values described in theGSEPL may instead be kept in additional registers, included in the GSCB,and loaded and stored by the Load Guarded Storage Controls and the StoreGuarded Storage Controls instructions. Other examples also exist.

In one embodiment, the expected usage is that the program does notswitch ASC mode between the establishment of the guarded storagecontrols and the recognition of a guarded storage event. If the programswitches ASC mode, then, in one example, the GSEPL is to be mapped tocommon addresses in both the space where it was established and in thespace where the guarded storage event was recognized. If a guardedstorage event is recognized in the access register mode, the guardedstorage event handler program may need to examine the GSEAI field todetermine an appropriate ALET (access list entry token) with which toaccess the guarded storage operand.

Further, when a nonconstrained transaction is aborted due to a guardedstorage event, the addressing mode from the transaction abort PSWbecomes effective. The addressing mode that was in effect at the time ofthe guarded storage event can be determined by inspecting the GSEAMfield in the GSE parameter list.

The addressing mode cannot be changed by a constrained transaction, inone embodiment; thus, in the one embodiment, if a constrainedtransaction is aborted due to a guarded storage event, the addressingmode is necessarily the same as when the TBEGINC instruction wasexecuted.

Further details of each of the instructions of the guarded storagefacility, including, for instance, Load Guarded, Load Logical and ShiftGuarded, Load Guarded Storage Controls and Store Guarded StorageControls, are described below. Each instruction may be a singlearchitected machine instruction at the hardware/software interface.Further, each instruction may include a plurality of fields. In oneembodiment, the fields of an instruction are separate and independentfrom one another. However, in another embodiment, more than one fieldmay be combined. Further, a subscript number associated with a field ofthe instruction denotes the operand to which the field applies. Forinstance, any field having a subscript 1 is associated with a firstoperand, any field having a subscript 2 is associated with a secondoperand, and so forth.

One example of a Load Guarded (LGG) instruction is described withreference to FIG. 8. A Load Guarded instruction 800 includes, forinstance, operation code (opcode) fields 802 a, 802 b to designate aload guarded operation; a register field (R₁) 804; an index field (X₂)806; a base field (B₂) 808; and a displacement field comprising a firstdisplacement (DL₂) field 810 a and a second displacement (DH₂) field 810b. The contents of the second displacement field and the firstdisplacement field are concatenated to provide a displacement, which istreated as a 20-bit signed binary integer, in one example.

When the X₂ 806 and B₂ 808 fields designate a general register otherthan register 0, the contents of the respective registers are added tothe displacement to provide an address in storage that includes thesecond operand. The second operand is, e.g., a doubleword in storage. Inone example, a specification exception is recognized and the operationis suppressed if the second operand address is not a doublewordboundary.

In operation of the Load Guarded instruction, a 64-bit intermediateresult is formed, as follows:

As examples, in the 24-bit addressing mode, the intermediate result isformed from the concatenation of 40 binary zeros with bits 40-63 of thesecond operand. In the 31-bit addressing mode, the intermediate resultis formed from the concatenation of 33 binary zeros with bits 33-63 ofthe second operand. In the 64-bit addressing mode, the intermediateresult is formed from the entire second operand.

When the guarded storage facility is enabled, the intermediate result isused in guarded storage event detection, as an example. If a guardedstorage event is recognized, then general register R₁ is not modified,and the instruction is completed, as described further below.

When either the guarded storage facility is not enabled, or the facilityis enabled but a guarded storage event is not recognized, then the64-bit intermediate result is placed in general register R₁, and theinstruction is completed.

The guarded storage event parameter list (GSEPL) is accessed when aguarded storage event is recognized. Store type accesses apply to theentire GSEPL. The condition code remains unchanged.

As indicated above, in addition to the Load Guarded instruction, theguarded storage facility includes, in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention, a Load Logical and Shift Guarded instruction. TheLoad Logical and Shift Guarded instruction is a single instruction(e.g., a single architected hardware instruction) that loads data fromstorage, shifts the data by a shift amount to obtain a shifted value,obtains an intermediate result using the shifted value, and performsguarded storage detection using the intermediate result.

In one particular example, the data is a 32-bit value that is shifted tothe left by a number of bit positions specified in the guarded storagedesignation register to form, e.g., an intermediate 64-bit value. The64-bit value is adjusted for the addressing mode; that is, in the 24-bitaddressing mode, bits 0-39 are set to zeros; in the 31-bit addressingmode, bits 0-32 are set to zeros; and in the 64-bit addressing mode, thevalue is unchanged. Selected bits of the intermediate value are comparedwith a guarded storage origin (in the GSD register), and other selectedbits of the intermediate value are used to index a bit in the guardedstorage section mask (GSSM) register. If the comparison is equal and theindexed GSSM bit is one, a guarded storage event is detected. Otherwise,the instruction simply loads the intermediate value into a register.

One example of a Load Logical and Shift Guarded (LLGFSG) instruction isdescribed with reference to FIG. 9. A Load Logical and Shift Guardedinstruction 900 includes, for instance, opcode fields 902 a, 902 b todesignate a load logical and shift guarded operation; a register field(R₁) 904; an index field (X₂) 906; a base field (B₂) 908; and adisplacement field comprising a first displacement (DL₂) field 910 a anda second displacement (DH₂) field 910 b. The contents of the seconddisplacement field and the first displacement field are concatenated toprovide a displacement, which is treated as a 20-bit signed binaryinteger, in one example.

When the X₂ 906 and B₂ 908 fields designate a general register otherthan register 0, the contents of the respective registers are added tothe displacement to provide an address in storage that includes thesecond operand. The second operand, e.g., is a word in storage. In oneexample, a specification exception is recognized and the operation issuppressed if the second operand address is not on a word boundary.

In operation of the Load Logical and Shift Guarded instruction, a 64-bitintermediate result is formed, as follows:

When the guarded storage facility is enabled (e.g., by means of bit 59of control register 2), the intermediate result is formed using theguarded load shift value (GLS, in bits 53-55 of the guarded storagedesignation register). When the guarded storage facility is not enabled,the GLS value is assumed to be zero.

As examples, in the 24-bit addressing mode, the intermediate result isformed from the concatenation of 40 binary zeros, bits (8+GLS) through31 of the second operand, and GLS binary zeros (i.e., a number equalingGLS of zeros). In the 31 bit addressing mode, the intermediate result isformed from the concatenation of 33 binary zeros, bits (1+GLS) through31 of the second operand, and GLS binary zeros. In the 64-bit addressingmode, the intermediate result is formed from the concatenation of(32−GLS) binary zeros, the entire 32-bit second operand, and GLS binaryzeros.

When the guarded storage facility is enabled, the intermediate result isused in guarded storage event detection, as an example. If a guardedstorage event is recognized, then general register R₁ is not modified,and the instruction is completed, as described further below.

When either the guarded storage facility is not enabled, or the facilityis enabled but a guarded storage event is not recognized, then the64-bit intermediate result is placed in general register R₁, and theinstruction is completed.

The guarded storage event parameter list (GSEPL) is accessed when aguarded storage event is recognized. Store type accesses apply to theentire GSEPL. The condition code remains unchanged.

With execution of either the Load Guarded or the Load Logical and ShiftGuarded instruction, there may be the following program exceptions:Access (fetch, second operand; when a guarded storage event isrecognized, fetch and store, GSEPL fields); Operation (guarded storagefacility not installed); and specification.

Priority of execution for each of the Load Guarded and the Load Logicaland Shift Guarded instructions is as follows:

-   -   1.-7. Exceptions with the same priority as the priority of        program-interruption conditions for the general case.    -   8. Access exceptions for the second operand in storage.    -   9. Completion with no guarded storage event recognized.    -   10. Side-effect access exceptions for the guarded storage event        parameter list.    -   11. Completion with a guarded storage event recognized.

The Load Logical And Shift Guarded instruction may be useful in loadingwhat are sometimes referred to as compressed pointers in which somenumber of rightmost bits of the pointer address are absent in storageand assumed to be zeros. For instance, various languages, such as Java,may allocate data objects for its applications on integral storageboundaries (that is, on boundaries that are a power of two). Forexample, objects may be allocated on a word (4-byte), doubleword(8-byte), or quadword (16-byte) boundary. When an object is allocated onsuch a boundary, some number of the rightmost bits of the object'saddress are zero. For programming efficiency, it may be advantageous torepresent the pointers to such objects using a 32-bit pointer, but thislimits the range of addressability to 4 gigabytes (or, in the case ofz/Architecture, which uses 31-bit addresses, the range of addressabilityis limited to 2 gigabytes), even when executing in the 64-bit addressingmode.

Since it is known that some number of rightmost bits of such an object(aligned on an integral boundary) are zero, these bits can be omittedfrom an in-memory representation of the pointer by shifting the pointerto the right by the number of expected zero bits. This allows thecorresponding number of leftmost bits to be added to the pointer instorage, thus allowing the pointer to address a larger amount of memorythan is possible using an un-shifted version. For example, if it isknown that the pointers indicate doublewords, by shifting the pointer tothe right by three bits, the range of addressability can be extended onthe left by 3 bits, thus allowing the 32-bit pointer to address up to 32gigabytes of memory (as opposed to the 4 gigabytes that can be addressedusing an un-shifted pointer). Further, when the pointer is loaded foruse by the CPU's memory subsystem, it is shifted to the left 3 bits toform a 35-bit pointer.

Assuming that a programming model uses compressed pointers that are ofthe same format (that is, the compressed pointers are all shifted rightby the same number of bits), the instruction which performs theload-and-shift operation does not need to have an operand designatingthe shift amount. Rather, this can be a relatively static value that isloaded infrequently (e.g., when a task is dispatched). In oneembodiment, the number of bits by which the compressed pointers areshifted is specified in the guarded load shift (GLS) field of theguarded storage designation (GSD) register. In another embodiment, theshift amount may be specified in an operand of the instruction. Othervariations are also possible.

When the guarded storage facility is installed in a configuration, theLoad Guarded (LGG) and Load Logical And Shift Guarded (LLGFSG)instructions can be executed regardless of the contents of the guardedstorage enablement control (e.g., bit 59 of control register 2).However, guarded storage events may be recognized as a result ofexecuting LGG or LLGFSG when (a) the GSE control is one, and (b) theguarded storage selection mask is nonzero. The guarded storage selectionmask is not to be loaded without the GSE control being one.

A guarded storage event is not recognized when all 64 bits of theguarded storage selection mask (GSSM) are zero. The program can ensurethat guarded storage events are not recognized by either (a) not loadingthe guarded storage controls, in which case the GSSM will contain itsreset state of zeros, or (b) loading zeros into the GSSM.

One example of a Load Guarded Storage Controls (LGSC) instruction isdescribed with reference to FIG. 10. The Load Guarded Storage Controlsinstruction provides parameters controlling the operation of a guardedstorage event to the CPU, and provides information describing the stateof the CPU at the time of the guarded storage event to the program.

Referring to FIG. 10, a Load Guarded Storage Controls instruction 1000includes opcode fields 1002 a, 1002 b to designate a load guardedstorage controls operation; a register field (R₁) 1004; an index field(X₂) 1006; a base field (B₂) 1008; and a displacement field comprising afirst displacement (DL₂) field 1010 a and a second displacement (DH₂)field 1010 b. The contents of the second displacement field and thefirst displacement field are concatenated to provide a displacement,which is treated as a 20-bit signed binary integer, in one example.

When the X₂ 1006 and B₂ 1008 fields designate a general register otherthan register 0, the contents of the respective registers are added tothe displacement to provide an address in storage that includes thesecond operand.

In operation, contents of the guarded storage control block (GSCB) atthe second operand address are loaded into the three guarded storageregisters. The format of the guarded storage control block (GSCB) isshown in FIG. 7. The R₁ field of the instruction is reserved and shouldcontain zero; otherwise, the program may not operate compatibly in thefuture.

Access exceptions are recognized for all 32 bytes of the GSCB.

If either the GLS or GSC fields of the GSD register being loaded containinvalid values, or if the reserved bit positions of the register do notcontain zeros, the results are unpredictable. If the second operandcontains either (a) invalid GLS or GSC values, or (b) nonzero values inthe reserved bit positions, then it is model dependent whether the CPUreplaces the invalid or nonzero values with corrected values.Furthermore, it is unpredictable whether such corrected values aresubsequently stored by the Store Guarded Storage Controls instruction.

A special operation exception is recognized and the operation issuppressed when the guarded storage enablement control, e.g., bit 59 ofcontrol register 2, is zero.

The condition code remains unchanged, and there may be the followingprogram exceptions: Access (fetch, second operand); Operation (if theguarded storage facility is not installed); Special Operation; andTransaction constraint.

If the GSC field of the GSD register contains an invalid value, guardedstorage events may not occur or erroneous guarded storage events may bedetected.

If the GLS field of the GSD register contains an invalid value, theintermediate result used by the Load Logical and Shift Guardedinstruction may be formed from an unpredictable range of bits in thesecond operand, shifted by an unpredictable number of bits.

One example of a Store Guarded Storage Controls instruction is describedwith reference to FIG. 11. A Store Guarded Storage Controls instruction1100 includes, for instance, opcode fields 1102 a, 1102 b to designate astore guarded storage controls operation; a register field (R₁) 1104; anindex field (X₂) 1106; a base field (B₂) 1108; and a displacement fieldcomprising a first displacement (DL₂) field 1110 a and a seconddisplacement (DH₂) field 1110 b. The contents of the second displacementfield and the first displacement field are concatenated to provide adisplacement, which is treated as a 20-bit signed binary integer, in oneexample.

When the X₂ 1106 and B₂ 1108 fields designate a general register otherthan register 0, the contents of the respective registers are added tothe displacement to provide an address in storage that includes thesecond operand.

In operation, the contents of the three guarded storage registers arestored at the second operand location. The second operand has the formatof a guarded storage control block (GSCB), as shown in FIG. 7. In oneembodiment, zeros are stored in the first eight bytes of the GSCB.

Access exceptions are recognized for all 32 bytes of the GSCB.

The R₁ field of the instruction is reserved and should contain zero;otherwise, the program may not operate compatibly in the future.

A special operation exception is recognized and the instruction issuppressed if the guarded storage enablement control, e.g., bit 59 ofcontrol register 2, is zero.

The condition code remains unchanged and there may be the followingprogram exceptions: Access (store, second operand); Operation (if theguarded storage facility is not installed); Special Operation; andTransaction constraint.

For each of the instructions, although various fields and registers aredescribed, one or more aspects of the present invention may use other,additional or fewer fields or registers, or other sizes of fields andregisters, etc. Many variations are possible. For instance, impliedregisters may be used instead of explicitly specified registers orfields of the instruction. Again, other variations are also possible.

One or more of the above-described instructions and/or registers may beemployed in guarded storage event detection used to detect a guardedstorage event. As shown in FIG. 12, in one embodiment, guarded storageevent detection 1200 uses, for instance, two values formed from theintermediate result 1202 of the Load Guarded (LGG) or Load Logical AndShift Guarded (LLGFSG) instruction, including, for instance, a guardedstorage operand comparand (GSOC) 1204; and a guarded storage mask index(GSMX) 1206.

The guarded storage operand comparand (GSOC) 1204 is formed from theintermediate result of the Load Guarded or Load Logical And ShiftGuarded instruction. For example, the GSOC comprises bit positions 0through (63−GSC) of the intermediate result, inclusive (where GSC is theguarded storage characteristic in, e.g., bit positions 58-63 of theguarded storage designation register).

The GSOC is compared 1210 with the guarded storage origin 1212 (GSO) inthe corresponding bit positions of the GSD register 1214, which alsoincludes guarded storage characteristic 1216. When the GSOC is not equalto the GSO, a guarded storage event is not recognized, and the executionof the Load Guarded or Load Logical And Shift Guarded instruction iscompleted by placing the intermediate result into general register R₁.

When the GSOC is equal to the GSO 1220, the six bits of the intermediateresult to the right of the GSOC form an unsigned binary integer calledthe guarded storage mask index (GSMX). The section guard bit (G) 1224 ofthe guarded storage section mask (GSSM) register 1226 corresponding tothe GSMX is examined 1222. If the section guard bit is zero, a guardedstorage event is not recognized, and the execution of the Load Guardedor Load Logical And Shift Guarded instruction is completed by placingthe intermediate result into general register R₁. However, if thesection guard bit is one, then a guarded storage event is recognized1228.

Guarded storage event detection is not performed when either (a) theguarded storage facility is not enabled (by means of, e.g., bit 59 ofcontrol register 2), or (b) all bit positions of the guarded storagesection mask (GSSM) register contain zeros, as examples.

In one embodiment, guarded storage controls may be captured on a machinecheck or on a signal processor (SIGP) store additional status at addressoperation. For instance, when a machine check occurs on a CPU, thearchitected register context of the CPU is recorded in storage. Most ofthe architected register context—including the program status word(PSW), general registers, access registers, control registers, floatingpoint registers, floating point control register, clock comparator, CPUtimer, TOD (Time-Of-Day) programmable register, breaking event addressregister, and prefix register—are stored into assigned storage locationsin the lower two blocks of real storage (that is, into the prefix area).Further, the architecture has been extended to include a machine checkextended save area (MCESA) that is discontiguous from the prefix area tosave additional information, including, in accordance with an aspect ofthe present invention, the guarded storage registers.

As shown in FIG. 13A, in one example, a machine check extended save area1300 includes content 1304 indicating the information that is saved. Inone example, the offsets of the content are shown at 1302, and an amountof extended save area that is stored is based on the lengthcharacteristic (LC) shown at 1306.

In one example, content 1304 includes contents of the guarded storageregisters, including contents 1306 of the guarded storage designationregister, contents 1308 of the guarded storage section mask register,and contents 1310 of the guarded storage event parameter list register.In one example, the guarded storage registers are stored in the sameformat as that of the guarded storage control block.

The validity of contents of locations 1024-1055 of the machine checkextended save area is indicated by, e.g., a guarded storage registervalidity bit, e.g., bit 36 of a machine check interruption code (MCIC)stored at, e.g., real locations 232-239. When one, it indicates that thecontents of those locations reflect the correct state of the guardedstorage registers at the point of interruption.

The machine check extended save area is designated by a machine checkextended save area designation (MCESAD), an example of which is depictedin FIG. 13B. A machine check extended save area designation 1350includes, for instance, a machine check extended save area origin(MCESAO) 1352 used to indicate the origin of the machine check extendedsave area, and a length characteristic (LC) 1354 representing the sizeand alignment of the MCESA.

In one example, the length characteristic is a power of two, and effectsof the length characteristic include, for instance:

-   -   When the guarded storage facility is not installed, or when the        facility is installed, but the LC field is zero, the size of the        machine check extended save area is assumed to be 1,024 bytes;        this ensures compatible operation for older software that is        unaware of the guarded storage facility.    -   When the guarded storage facility is installed and the LC field        is any value from, e.g., 1 to 9, it is assumed to be an error,        and the entire MCESAO is treated as if it contained zeros (that        is, no MCESA is stored).    -   When the guarded storage facility is installed and the LC field        contains a value greater than or equal to, e.g., 10, then the        size and alignment of the MCESA are 2^(LC) bytes. In this case,        bits 0 through 63−LC of the MCESAD form the machine check        extended save area origin (MCESAO). The MCESAO, with LC bits of        zeros appended on the right, form the 64-bit address of the        machine check extended save area.

Similar to the machine check extended save area, when the guardedstorage facility is installed, a parameter register of, e.g., a SignalProcessor (SIGP) instruction, used to capture contents of selectedregisters of a CPU, is extended to include additional statusinformation. As shown in FIG. 13C, a SIGP parameter register 1380 forthe store additional status at address order includes an additionalstatus area origin 1382 used to indicate the origin of the additionalarea, and a length characteristic (LC) 1384 representing the size andalignment of the additional status area.

In one example, when the guarded storage facility is installed, if areserved LC value is specified, or if any reserved bit position in theparameter register is not zero, the SIGP order is not accepted by theaddressed CPU, the invalid parameter bit (e.g., bit 55) is indicated inthe status register designated by the R₁ field of the SIGP instruction,and the instruction completes by setting condition code 1.

Further details regarding processing associated with a guarded storageevent are described below. Some of the processing depends on theexecution mode of the processor. For instance, the processor may be innontransactional execution mode or transactional execution mode.Further, if in transactional mode, it may be in nonconstrainedtransactional mode or constrained transactional mode, and processing maydepend thereon. Certain details are described with reference to thez/Architecture; however, one or more aspects apply to otherarchitectures. The z/Architecture is only one example.

When a guarded storage event is recognized while the CPU is in thetransactional execution mode, the following occurs:

-   -   1. The transaction is aborted with, e.g., abort code 19. If a        transaction diagnostic block (TDB) address is not valid, or if        the TDB address is valid and accessible, condition code 2, as an        example, is set in the transaction abort PSW. If the TDB address        is valid, but the TDB is not accessible, condition code 1, as an        example, is set in the transaction abort PSW.    -   2. Depending on the model, the second operand of the Load        Guarded or Load Logical Guarded And Shift instruction may be        refetched to determine whether the guarded storage event        condition still exists.        -   When the second operand is refetched and the guarded storage            event condition no longer exists, normal transaction abort            processing concludes by the loading of the transaction abort            PSW. Guarded storage event processing does not occur in this            case.        -   When the second operand is not refetched, or when it is            refetched and the guarded storage event condition persists,            guarded storage event processing occurs, as described herein            (instead of loading the transaction abort PSW; i.e., without            the guarded storage facility, when transactional execution            is aborted, control is passed to the instruction designated            by the transaction abort PSW. For a nonconstrained            transaction, this is the instruction following the outermost            TBEGIN instruction that started transactional execution.            Typically, this will transfer control to a transaction abort            handler that can potentially alter program conditions to            make a subsequent attempt at transactional execution            successful. For a constrained transaction, the transaction            abort PSW designates the TBEGINC instruction. Thus,            transaction is re-driven without any intervention from an            abort handler.) When a GSE is recognized during            transactional execution, the transaction is aborted.            Re-driving the transaction without resolving the GSE will            not be productive. Thus, control is passed to the GSE            handler following a transaction abort, and the GSE handler            manages the event, as described herein.        -   In this case, the TX bit is set in the GSECI field, and if            the CPU was in the constrained transactional execution mode,            then the CX bit is also set.

When a guarded storage event occurs, the GSE instruction address (GSEIA)contains the address of the LGG or LLGFSG instruction that caused theevent. Typically, the program can branch back to this address afterresolving the GSE, and attempt to continue with accessing the objectthat originally caused the event. However, in transactional execution(TX) mode, a transaction is aborted by a guarded storage event, andbranching back to the LGG/LLGFSG instruction is inappropriate, as otherinstructions in the transaction leading up to the GSE will have beendiscarded. Thus, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention,based on an abort due to a GSE, processing includes, for instance,branching to a GSE handler after transactional abort to resolve the GSE;providing an indication to the GSE handler that the CPU was intransactional mode; and providing the address of the TBEGIN/TBEGINCinstruction that initiated the transaction causing the GSE, such thatthe GSE handler can re-drive the transaction.

Regardless of whether the CPU was in the transactional execution modewhen a guarded storage event is recognized, the guarded storage eventparameter list address (GSEPLA) register is used to locate the guardedstorage event parameter list (GSEPL). The content of the GSEPLA registeris a 64-bit address, and 64 bits of the address are used regardless ofthe current addressing mode. The GSEPL is accessed using the currenttranslation mode, except that when the CPU is in the access registermode, the GSEPL is accessed using the primary address space.

If an access exception is recognized when accessing the GSEPL,processing is as follows:

-   -   A program interruption occurs.    -   If the CPU was not in the transactional execution mode, then the        instruction address in the program old PSW is set as follows:        -   If the exception condition results in nullification, the            instruction address points to the instruction causing the            guarded storage event (that is, the address of the LGG or            LLGFSG, or the address of the execute-type instruction whose            target is the LGG or LLGFSG, as examples).        -   If the exception condition results in suppression or            termination, the instruction address points to the next            sequential instruction following the instruction that caused            the guarded storage event.

If the CPU was in the transactional execution mode, the transactionabort PSW is placed into the program old PSW.

-   -   For all access-exception conditions except addressing, the side        effect access indication, e.g., bit 54 of the translation        exception identification (TEID) at real locations 168-175, is        set to one. (The TEID is not stored for addressing exceptions.)    -   The remaining guarded storage event processing, described below,        does not occur when the GSEPL is not accessible.

If the GSEPL is accessible, the following actions are performed usingthe fields of the GSEPL:

-   -   Bytes 0 and 4-7 of the GSEPL are set to zeros.    -   An indication of the addressing mode is placed into the guarded        storage event addressing mode (GSEAM, byte 1 of the GSEPL), as        follows:        -   Bits 0-5 of the GSEAM are set to zeros.        -   Bits 6 and 7 of the GSEAM are set to bits 31 and 32 of the            PSW at the time the guarded storage event was recognized.    -   An indication of the cause of the event is placed into the        guarded storage event cause indication field (GSECI, byte 2 of        the GSEPL), as follows:        -   If the CPU was in the transactional execution mode when the            guarded storage event was recognized, bit 0 of the GSECI is            set to one; otherwise, bit 0 of byte 2 is set to zero.        -   If the CPU was in the constrained transactional execution            mode when the guarded storage event was recognized, bit 1 of            the GSECI is set to one; otherwise, bit 1 of the GSECI is            set to zero.        -   Bits 2-6 of the GSECI are set to zeros.        -   Bit 7 of the GSECI is set to designate the instruction that            caused the guarded storage event. A value of zero means the            event was caused by a LGG instruction; a value of one means            the event was caused by a LLGFSG instruction, as examples.    -   An indication of the PSW DAT, addressing mode, and address space        controls are placed into the guarded storage event access        indication field (GSEAI, byte 3 of the GSEPL), as follows:        -   Bit 0 of the GSEAI is reserved and set to zero.        -   The current translation mode, bit 5 of the PSW, is placed            into bit 1 of the GSEAI.        -   If DAT is on, bits 16-17 of the PSW are placed into bits 2-3            of the GSEAI. If DAT is off, bits 2-3 of the GSEAI are            unpredictable.        -   If the CPU is in the access register mode, the            access-register number corresponding to the B₂ field of the            LGG or LLGFSG instruction causing the event is placed into            bits 4-7 of the GSEAI. If the CPU is not in the AR mode,            bits 4-7 of the GSEAI are unpredictable.    -   The instruction address in the PSW is replaced by the contents        of the guarded storage event handler address field (GSEHA, bytes        8-15 of the GSEPL). The GSEHA field is considered to be a branch        address. The current addressing mode is unchanged.    -   The address of the instruction causing the guarded storage event        is placed into the guarded storage event instruction address        field (GSEIA, bytes 16-23 of the GSEPL). The address placed in        the GSEIA is either that of the LGG or LLGFSG instruction, or        that of the execute-type instruction whose target is a LGG or        LLGFSG, as examples. The GSEIA is also placed into the breaking        event address register.    -   The second operand address of the LGG or LLGFSG instruction is        placed into the guarded storage event operand address (GSEOA,        bytes 24-31 of the GSEPL). If transactional execution was        aborted due to the recognition of a guarded storage event, the        GSEOA field contains the operand address formed during        transactional execution.    -   The intermediate result of the LGG or LLGFSG instruction is        placed into the guarded storage event intermediate result field        (GSEIR, bytes 32-39 of the GSEPL). If transactional execution is        aborted due to the recognition of a guarded storage event, the        GSEIR field is formed using the guarded storage operand address        (GSEOA) field. However, if the guarded storage event was        recognized during transactional execution, it is model dependent        whether the GSEIR contains the value that was transactionally        fetched or the value that was fetched after the transaction was        aborted.    -   The GSE intermediate address (i.e., the pointer loaded by LGG or        LLGFSG) is formed after the transaction has been aborted. In one        embodiment, if the operand of the LGG/LLGFSG was transactionally        altered during the transaction, the GSEIA will not show those        changes.    -   If the CPU was in the transactional execution mode when the        guarded storage event was recognized, the instruction address of        the transaction abort PSW is placed in the guarded storage event        return address field (GSERA, bytes 40-47 of the GSEPL). If the        CPU was in the constrained transactional execution mode, the        GSERA designates the TBEGINC (Transaction Begin Constrained)        instruction. If the CPU was in the nonconstrained transactional        execution mode, the GSERA designates the instruction following        the TBEGIN (Transaction Begin) instruction. Following GSE        handling, the handler can branch to this address to retry the        transaction.    -   If the CPU was not in the transactional execution mode when the        guarded storage event was recognized, the content of the GSERA        field is identical to that of the GSEIA field.

Finally, the LGG or LLGFSG instruction is considered to have completedwithout altering general register

As described herein, programming languages that implement a storagecoalescing technique, known as storage reclamation or garbagecollection, may benefit from the guarded storage facility. In such aprogramming model, a reference to a program object is performed by firstloading a pointer to the object. The Load Guarded and Load LogicalGuarded And Shift instructions provide the means by which the programcan load a pointer to an object and determine whether the pointer isusable. If no guarded storage event (GSE) is recognized, the pointer canbe used to reference the object. However, if a GSE is recognized, it mayindicate that the current pointer designates a storage location that isbeing reorganized, in which case the object may have been relocatedelsewhere. The GSE handler routine may then modify the pointer todesignate the object's new location, and then branch to a locationdesignated by the GSEIA to resume normal program execution.

In response to a GSE that is recognized when the CPU is in thetransactional execution mode, the program's GSE handler can attempt tocorrect the condition that caused the event (that is, update the operandof the LGG or LLGFSG), and then re-execute the transaction by branchingto the location designated by the GSERA. If nonconstrained transactionalexecution was aborted, the program is to set the condition code toeither 2 or 3 prior to branching to the GSERA, depending on whether thecondition causing the event was or was not corrected, respectively. Ifconstrained transactional execution was aborted, then the program is notto branch to the location designated by the GSERA unless the conditioncausing the event has been corrected; otherwise, a program loop mayresult.

To ensure reliable contents of the guarded storage event intermediateresult (GSEIR) field, a program executing in the transactional executionmode is to use a Nontransactional Store instruction (which performs anontransactional store access) if it modifies the second operandlocation of a Load Guarded instruction that is subsequently executed inthe same transaction.

Similar to other instructions that alter the PSW instruction address, aspecification exception is recognized if the PSW instruction address(loaded from the GSEHA field) is odd following a guarded storage event.

During GSE processing, the CPU may recognize an access exception whenattempting to update the guarded storage event parameter list (GSEPL).Such an access exception may be totally innocuous, for example, due tothe GSEPL being temporarily paged out to auxiliary storage by theoperating system. Assuming the operating system remedies the exception,it will load the program old PSW to resume execution of the interruptedprogram.

If an access exception is recognized when accessing the GSEPL, and theCPU was not in the transactional execution mode, the instruction addressof the program old PSW will be set as follows, in one example:

-   -   If the exception resulted in nullification, the instruction        address will point to the LGG or LLGFSG instruction that caused        the GSE (or the execute-type instruction whose operand was the        LGG or LLGFSG), as examples.    -   If the exception resulted in suppression or termination, the        instruction address will point to the next sequential        instruction following the instruction that caused the GSE for        suppressing or terminating exceptions.

If an access exception is recognized when accessing the GSEPL, and theCPU was in the nonconstrained transactional execution mode, the programold PSW will designate the instruction following the outermost TBEGIN;if the CPU was in the constrained transactional execution mode, theprogram old PSW will designate the TBEGINC instruction.

If the CPU was in the nonconstrained transactional execution mode and aTDB (transaction diagnostic block) is stored, abort code 19 indicatesthat transactional execution was aborted due to a GSE. However, atransaction abort-handler routine cannot assume that abort code 19necessarily indicates that the GSE handler routine has corrected thecause of the GSE (because of the possible access-exception conditionwhen accessing the GSEPL). In this scenario, an abort-handler routinemay re-execute the transaction multiple times to allow for operatingsystem resolution of one or more translation exceptions and to allow theGSE handler to correct the cause of the GSE.

Described above is a guarded storage facility, including instructions toload and store controls regulating the operation of the guarded storagefacility, as well as other aspects of the guarded storage facility.

In a further aspect of the present invention, the guarded storagefacility is supported in a virtualized computing environment. Forinstance, the guarded storage control block that includes the guardedstorage control registers (e.g., guarded storage designation register,guarded storage section mask register, and guarded storage eventparameter list address register) is made available for virtualizedenvironments.

Many architectures offer virtualized environments. For instance, theinterpretive execution architecture, offered by International BusinessMachines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., provides the means by which a hostprogram—also called a hypervisor—can provide virtualized guestenvironments that appear (to the guest program) as complete machines.Exploiting guest machines provides several advantages, such assimultaneously running separate production and test virtual machines onthe same physical hardware. This provides a cost savings to the customerby consolidating workloads on a single machine that is more efficientlyutilized than if virtualization was not used.

One example of a virtualized computing environment is described withreference to FIG. 14. In one example, a computing environment 1400,which is based, for instance, on the z/Architecture and utilizes theinterpretive execution architecture, includes a central processorcomplex (CPC) 1402 providing virtual machine support. CPC 1402 iscoupled to one or more input/output (I/O) devices 1406 via one or morecontrol units 1408. Central processor complex 1402 includes, forinstance, a processor memory 1404 (a.k.a., main memory, main storage,central storage) coupled to one or more central processors (a.k.a.,central processing units (CPUs)) 1410, and an input/output subsystem1411, each of which is described below.

Processor memory 1404 includes, for example, one or more virtualmachines 1412, a virtual machine manager, such as a hypervisor 1414,that manages the virtual machines, and processor firmware 1415. Oneexample of hypervisor 1414 is z/VM, offered by International BusinessMachines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.

The virtual machine support of the CPC provides the ability to operatelarge numbers of virtual machines 1412, each capable of operating withdifferent programs 1420 and running a guest operating system 1422, suchas z/OS, z/VM, z/VSE, Linux, and so forth. Each virtual machine 1412 iscapable of functioning as a separate system. That is, each virtualmachine can be independently reset, run a guest operating system, andoperate with different programs. An operating system or applicationprogram running in a virtual machine appears to have access to a fulland complete system, but in reality, only a portion of central processorcomplex 1402 is available.

Processor memory 1404 is coupled to central processors (CPUs) 1410,which are physical processor resources assignable to virtual machines.For instance, virtual machine 1412 includes one or more logicalprocessors, each of which represents all or a share of a physicalprocessor resource 1410 that may be dynamically allocated to the virtualmachine.

Further, processor memory 1404 is coupled to an I/O subsystem 1411.Input/output subsystem 1411 directs the flow of information betweeninput/output control units 1408 and devices 1406 and main storage 1404.It is coupled to the central processing complex, in that it can be apart of the central processing complex or separate therefrom.

In one embodiment, the host (e.g., z/VM) and processor (e.g., System z)hardware/firmware interact with each other in a controlled cooperativemanner in order to process guest operating system operations withoutrequiring the transfer of control from/to the guest operating system andthe host. Guest operations can be executed directly without hostintervention via a facility that allows instructions to beinterpretively executed for the guest, including a pageable storage modeguest. This facility provides an instruction, Start InterpretiveExecution (SIE), which the host can issue, designating a control blockcalled a state description which holds guest (virtual machine) state andcontrols, such as, for instance, indications of guest architecturalmode, guest architectural features, guest registers, execution controls,and so forth. The instruction places the machine into an interpretiveexecution mode in which guest instructions and interruptions areprocessed directly, until a condition requiring host attention arises.When such a condition occurs, interpretive execution is ended, andeither a host interruption is presented, or the SIE instructioncompletes storing details of the condition encountered; this latteraction is called interception.

Over the years, numerous features have been added to the interpretiveexecution architecture, such that the size of the state description hasbeen expanded providing various formats of the state description. Forinstance, a format-1 state description—the original version—is 256bytes; a format-2 state description doubled the size of the structure to512 bytes; and a format-3 state description increased the size of thestructure to 1,024 bytes.

However, even with the latest 1 K-byte state description, there areadditional ancillary structures—referred to as satellite structures—thatcontain additional context information for the guest.

The guarded storage control registers, provided in accordance with anaspect of the present invention, are yet another piece of guestarchitectural context that is to be loaded when the host programdispatches a guest (using SIE) and stored when control is returned fromthe guest program to the host program. Thus, in accordance with anaspect of the present invention, a mechanism is provided to load andstore the guarded storage control registers, regardless of the format ofthe state description and limiting the creation of other satellitestructures.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a statedescription annex (SDNX) is provided. The state description annex is alogical extension of the state description, accommodating the state ofadditional facilities, such as additional z/Architecture facilities. Thestate description annex is designed, in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention, to accommodate the guarded storage control block(GSCB), and is extendable to include future guest state structures. Inone example, the state description annex is allocated on an integralboundary (that is, a boundary that is a power of two), and the size ofthe state description annex is the same as its boundary.

One example of a state description annex is described with reference toFIG. 15. In one example, a state description annex 1500 includes anumber of fields, such as, for instance:

-   -   Reserved for Program Use 1502: Bytes 0-7 are reserved for use by        a program.    -   Feature Indications 1504: Bytes 8-15 contain a number, e.g., 64,        one-bit indications of the features supported in the state        description annex, as follows, in one example:        -   Bit 0: Guarded storage control block is provided        -   Bits 1-63: Reserved    -   When execution of an instruction that is to access a particular        feature of the SDNX is attempted, but the respective feature bit        is zero, a validity interception code may be recognized. The        execution of the instruction requesting access to the state        description annex may be suppressed, or the execution may be        completed using unpredictable values from the state description        annex.    -   Guarded Storage Control Block (GSCB) 1506: When bit 0 of the        feature indications is one, bytes 16-47 of the SDNX contain the        guarded storage control block. When the guarded storage facility        is enabled for the guest, the GSCB is accessed during SIE entry        and exit to load and save, respectively, the guest's guarded        storage context. Depending on the model and host level, the GSCB        may also be accessed during execution of the Load Guarded        Storage Controls, Store Guarded Storage Controls, Load Guarded,        and Load Logical And Shift Guarded instructions.    -   In another embodiment, the feature indications field is not        provided, and the guarded storage control block is included in        the state description annex, based on the guarded storage        facility being enabled.    -   Other fields in the SDNX not described above are reserved and        are to contain zeros. Otherwise, the program may not operate        compatibly in the future.    -   The state description annex may include other, additional and/or        fewer fields. Many variations are possible.

The state description annex provides the means by which the statedescription can be extended with a large number of ancillary statestructures, without having a multiplicity of separate satellitestructures.

In one embodiment, the state description annex is located using a statedescription annex designation. For instance, a single 8-byte field inthe state description, called the state description annex (SDNX)designation, contains a pointer to the SDNX and a characteristic (thatis, an integer value representing a power of two) that indicates thealignment and size of the SDNX. In one embodiment, the SDNX designationappears at offset 400 (190 hex) in the state description, but otherembodiments are possible. One example format of the SDNX designation isshown in FIG. 16.

In one example, a state description annex designation 1600 includes, forinstance:

-   -   State Description Annex Characteristic (SDNXC) 1602: Bits 60-63,        for instance, of the SDNX designation contain the state        description annex characteristic. The SDNXC is, for instance, a        four bit unsigned integer that specifies the size and alignment        of the SDNX, as a power of two.    -   In one embodiment, the minimum SDNXC is 6, indicating a minimum        size of 64 bytes and corresponding alignment on a 64-byte        boundary; the maximum SDNXC is, for instance, 12, indicating a        4,096-byte size and alignment. Values 0-5 and 13-15 are        reserved. If a reserved value is specified, a validity        interception may be recognized. However, in other embodiments,        other valid size values are possible, and other exception        conditions for an invalid size are possible.    -   State Description Annex Origin (SDNXO) 1604: Bit positions 0        through N, where N is 63−SDNXC, of the SDNX designation contain        the state description annex origin (SDNXO). When nonzero, the        SDNXO, with SDNXC binary zeros appended on the right, form the        address of the state description annex in host real storage. The        state description annex may be accessed during guest execution        whenever any of the following is true:        -   The guarded storage facility is installed in the host            configuration, and bit 1 of execution control B (ECB) of the            SIE state description indicating the guarded storage            facility is, e.g., one.        -   Future exploiters of the SDNX are installed.

In one embodiment, key controlled and low address protection do notapply to the state description annex.

-   -   If the SDNXO designates an inaccessible location during SIE        entry, a validity interception code may apply.    -   When any operation that is to access the SDNX is attempted, but        either the SDNXO is zero or the attempted access results in a        host access exception, a validity interception may apply. The        execution of the instruction requesting access to the state        description annex may be suppressed, or the execution may be        completed using unpredictable values that would have otherwise        been obtained from the state description annex.    -   Bit positions between the SDNXO and SDNXC fields are reserved        and are to contain zeros; otherwise, the program may not operate        compatibly in the future.

In other embodiments, the state description annex designation mayinclude other, additional and/or fewer fields. Many variations arepossible.

As described herein, in one or more aspects, ancillary state descriptionstructures, including future structures, are consolidated into a singlestructure, referred to as a state description annex (SDNX). Thestructure is located using a state description annex designation (SDNXD)that includes a combination of: SDNXO: Origin of SDNX (e.g., significantleftmost bits of the address, padded on the right with SDNXC zeros); andSDNXC: Characteristic value describing alignment and size of the SDNX asa power of two. The SDNX may include, for instance, a feature indicationbit map designating the validity of content structures; and/or contentstructures, including, e.g., guarded storage (GS) facility registers,with room to expand.

A host interception condition may be provided when: SDNXC is invalid;SDNXO is zero or inaccessible; and/or a feature is not valid for therequesting service.

In one embodiment, when a guest ends its interpretive execution, thehost is to save the guest's guarded storage context, and thus, in oneembodiment, issues a Store Guarded Storage Controls instructiondesignating a location within the guest's state description annex tosave the contents of the guarded storage registers. Further, when thehost is to dispatch another guest, it performs a Load Guarded StorageControls out of the next guest's state description annex.

Described above is a guarded storage facility used to facilitateprocessing within a computing environment, including within virtualizedenvironments. One or more aspects of the present invention areinextricably tied to computer technology and facilitate processingwithin a computer, improving performance thereof.

One embodiment of aspects of the invention relating to facilitatingprocessing in a computing environment is described with reference toFIGS. 17A-17B. Referring to FIG. 17A, in one example, a data structuredesigned to include a plurality of ancillary state descriptionstructures to be used in a virtualized environment is provided (1700).Included within the data structure are one or more ancillary statedescription structures, the one or more ancillary state descriptionstructures including one or more control registers used in a guardedstorage facility to guard one or more sections of memory (1702). In oneexample, to include the one or more ancillary state descriptionstructures, a guarded storage control block is included in the datastructure, the guarded storage control block including the one or morecontrol registers (1704). The one or more control registers include, forinstance, one or more registers selected from a group of registersconsisting of a guarded storage designation register, a guarded storagesection mask register, and a guarded storage event parameter listaddress register (1706).

In one embodiment, the data structure is used to manage the guarding ofthe one or more sections of memory in the virtualized environment(1710). The data structure is, for instance, an extension of a statedescription used to control processing within the virtualizedenvironment (1712).

Further, in one embodiment, referring to FIG. 17B, the data structureincludes a features indication that indicates the validity of contentsof the data structure (1720). Additionally, in one example, adetermination is made as to whether a requested feature is valid, thedetermining using the features indication (1722).

Moreover, in one embodiment, the data structure is located (1730) usinginformation in a state description, the state description used tocontrol processing within the virtualized environment (1732). Theinformation includes, for instance, a pointer to an origin of the datastructure (1734), and/or a characteristic used to indicate a size andalignment of the data structure (1736).

Many variations are possible.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

In addition to the above, one or more aspects may be provided, offered,deployed, managed, serviced, etc. by a service provider who offersmanagement of customer environments. For instance, the service providercan create, maintain, support, etc. computer code and/or a computerinfrastructure that performs one or more aspects for one or morecustomers. In return, the service provider may receive payment from thecustomer under a subscription and/or fee agreement, as examples.Additionally or alternatively, the service provider may receive paymentfrom the sale of advertising content to one or more third parties.

In one aspect, an application may be deployed for performing one or moreembodiments. As one example, the deploying of an application comprisesproviding computer infrastructure operable to perform one or moreembodiments.

As a further aspect, a computing infrastructure may be deployedcomprising integrating computer readable code into a computing system,in which the code in combination with the computing system is capable ofperforming one or more embodiments.

As yet a further aspect, a process for integrating computinginfrastructure comprising integrating computer readable code into acomputer system may be provided. The computer system comprises acomputer readable medium, in which the computer medium comprises one ormore embodiments. The code in combination with the computer system iscapable of performing one or more embodiments.

Although various embodiments are described above, these are onlyexamples. For example, computing environments of other architectures canbe used to incorporate and use one or more embodiments. Further,different instructions, instruction formats, instruction fields and/orinstruction values may be used. Many variations are possible.

Further, other types of computing environments can benefit and be used.As an example, a data processing system suitable for storing and/orexecuting program code is usable that includes at least two processorscoupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus.The memory elements include, for instance, local memory employed duringactual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memorywhich provide temporary storage of at least some program code in orderto reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storageduring execution.

Input/Output or I/O devices (including, but not limited to, keyboards,displays, pointing devices, DASD, tape, CDs, DVDs, thumb drives andother memory media, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directlyor through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also becoupled to the system to enable the data processing system to becomecoupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storagedevices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cablemodems, and Ethernet cards are just a few of the available types ofnetwork adapters.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It willbe further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”,when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below, if any, areintended to include any structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of one or more embodiments has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain variousaspects and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer program product for facilitatingprocessing in a computing environment, said computer program productcomprising: a computer readable storage medium readable by a processingcircuit and storing instructions for performing a method comprising:providing a data structure designed to include a plurality of ancillarystate description structures to be used in a virtualized environment;and including in the data structure one or more ancillary statedescription structures, the one or more ancillary state descriptionstructures including one or more control registers used in a guardedstorage facility to guard one or more sections of memory.
 2. Thecomputer program product of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises using the data structure to manage the guarding of the one ormore sections of memory in the virtualized environment.
 3. The computerprogram product of claim 1, wherein the including comprises including aguarded storage control block in the data structure, the guarded storagecontrol block comprising the one or more control registers.
 4. Thecomputer program product of claim 1, wherein the one or more controlregisters comprise one or more registers selected from a group ofregisters consisting of: a guarded storage designation register, aguarded storage section mask register, and a guarded storage eventparameter list address register.
 5. The computer program product ofclaim 1, wherein the data structure is an extension of a statedescription used to control processing within the virtualizedenvironment.
 6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein themethod further comprises locating the data structure, the locating usinginformation in a state description, the state description used tocontrol processing within the virtualized environment.
 7. The computerprogram product of claim 6, wherein the information includes a pointerto an origin of the data structure.
 8. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the information includes a characteristic used toindicate a size and alignment of the data structure.
 9. The computerprogram product of claim 1, wherein the data structure comprises afeatures indication that indicates validity of contents of the datastructure.
 10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein themethod further comprises determining whether a requested feature isvalid, the determining using the features indication.
 11. A computersystem for facilitating processing in a computing environment, saidcomputer system comprising: a memory; and a processor in communicationwith the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform amethod, said method comprising: providing a data structure designed toinclude a plurality of ancillary state description structures to be usedin a virtualized environment; and including in the data structure one ormore ancillary state description structures, the one or more ancillarystate description structures including one or more control registersused in a guarded storage facility to guard one or more sections ofmemory.
 12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the method furthercomprises using the data structure to manage the guarding of the one ormore sections of memory in the virtualized environment.
 13. The computersystem of claim 11, wherein the one or more control registers compriseone or more registers selected from a group of registers consisting of:a guarded storage designation register, a guarded storage section maskregister, and a guarded storage event parameter list address register.14. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the method furthercomprises locating the data structure, the locating using information ina state description, the state description used to control processingwithin the virtualized environment.
 15. The computer system of claim 11,wherein the data structure comprises a features indication thatindicates validity of contents of the data structure.
 16. Acomputer-implemented method of facilitating processing in a computingenvironment, said computer-implemented method comprising: providing adata structure designed to include a plurality of ancillary statedescription structures to be used in a virtualized environment; andincluding in the data structure, by at least one processor, one or moreancillary state description structures, the one or more ancillary statedescription structures including one or more control registers used in aguarded storage facility to guard one or more sections of memory. 17.The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising usingthe data structure to manage the guarding of the one or more sections ofmemory in the virtualized environment.
 18. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 16, wherein the one or more control registers compriseone or more registers selected from a group of registers consisting of:a guarded storage designation register, a guarded storage section maskregister, and a guarded storage event parameter list address register.19. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprisinglocating the data structure, the locating using information in a statedescription, the state description used to control processing within thevirtualized environment.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim16, wherein the data structure comprises a features indication thatindicates validity of contents of the data structure.